OEF is the abbreviation for Oklahoma Earthbike Fellowship. Actually this is not my scene. Today on the OEF Draper Trails I stopped a couple of times to commune with the forest. Don’t get me wrong; it’s a great workout and something I should do once in awhile. However, the forest pointed out that this kind of trail riding isn’t really my calling. It’s too intense for too much of the ride and I can’t easily hear the Spirit of the Lord speaking from those secret places.

Today I decided to visit the red loop. It’s only a mile long and runs back and forth on the only north-facing slope in the OEF park. That means it has a slightly different terrain and crosses this one large gully repeatedly, as seen in this picture. I shot this looking upslope from the fourth and lowest crossing.

There was also a couple of smaller gullies like this one on the left. I had to dismount a couple of times on the big one because the approach was too rough to hit it fast. This little one wasn’t so bad. All in all it was fun one time, but I’m not likely to visit the red loop again, even if I do come back — say, next month.

Here’s another glance at part of the black loop. You can see beyond the board wall a couple of hop jumps. I’m told there are a few riders who really love this stuff, but they complain it’s not very well constructed. I really have no idea what kind of criteria and expertise it takes to make these trails pass muster with the national organization to which OEF belongs, but it’s just not my scene. Too many parts of this trail park are just that kind of elitist stuff. It’s not a good place for someone who’s aging, injured and arthritic, not to mention pretty heavy.

I think I’ll come back out to Draper Lake after the frosts hit again, and ride the wild trails along the shore. That way I can stop when I hear the Spirit calling from those secret places.